EMQ Strawberry Festival is sweet fun for a good cause
By Shari Kaplan
As a cold drink at the beginning of a long, hot day, the West Valley's own Strawberry Festival provides a refreshing deluge of berry-flavored food and fun just in time for the impending start of a long, hot summer.
The 41st annual Strawberry Festival and Run, a benefit for the nonprofit, Campbell-based EMQ Children & Family Services, takes place all day on June 9 and 10, on the campus of West Valley College, 14000 Fruitvale Ave. in Saratoga. The event includes food, desserts and nonalcoholic drinks--many of which incorporate strawberries--along with arts and crafts booths, live entertainment and children's games and activities.
Behind the festivities are more than 1,500 community volunteers, including members of local service clubs, along with the 25-member volunteer Strawberry Festival Committee. Many corporations also sponsor the event. "We're gratified by the tremendous support the festival receives every year from community groups and individual volunteers," says Jerry Doyle, EMQ's president and CEO.
For the second year, the festival also features a 5K run/walk on June 10, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Called Run for the Kids, it's also a fundraiser for EMQ. Runners and walkers of all skill levels are invited to participate in this tour of the scenic West Valley area. Registration fee is $25 per person and includes a T-shirt and strawberry pancake breakfast.
Back for its third year is the Best Strawberry Recipe Contest, which in the past has produced many innovative desserts and other dishes, submitted by local cooks both amateur and professional. This year's winners were chosen on May 30, and will be on display at the festival.
An annual fundraiser for the EMQ Children and Family Services, the Strawberry Festival began in the backyard of a generous Los Gatan, Ida Tupper, who wanted to provide allowances for the children living at the former Ming Quong residential facility in Los Gatos. With the help of her friends in the Santa Cruz Ming Quong Women's Auxiliary, the successful event consisted of the sale of handmade items and strawberry sundaes.
The festival has since expanded and relocated several times. It attracts thousands of visitors each year and raises many thousands of dollars for EMQ. The group helps children with serious emotional disturbances--and their families--achieve and maintain emotional health and independence. It offers a broad range of treatment plans, counseling, foster care, chemical dependency prevention, educational services and training programs. EMQ maintains campuses in Los Gatos, San Jose and Campbell and has started a wraparound services program in Sacramento County, as well.
Festival admission and parking are both free. For directions to West Valley College, or for more information about the festival, call 408.437.8359, or visit www.emq.org/strawber.htm on the Internet.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
